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After 11 months of successful operation onboard the ISS US laboratory Destiny, the air quality monitors ANITA (Analyzing Interferometer for Ambient Air) was brought back to Earth on STS126 (ULF2). ANITA is a technology demonstrator flight experiment for continuous air quality monitoring inside the crewed cabin of the ISS with low detection limits and high time resolution. For the first time, the dynamics of the detected trace gas concentrations could be directly resolved by ANITA and correlated to gas events in the cabin. The system is the result of a long term ESA technology development programme initiated more than seventeen years ago. The ANITA mission was a cooperative project between ESA and NASA. ESA's responsibilities were the provision of the H/W, the data acquisition and the data evaluation. NASA was responsible for the launch, accommodation and operation onboard ISS, data download and the transportation of ANITA back to the Earth.

After the launch to the International Space Station with The Space Shuttle flight STS 118 13A.1 on August 9th 2007 and the accommodation in the US lab Destiny, the air quality monitor ANITA (Analyzing Interferometer for Ambient Air) has been successfully put into operation. ANITA is a technology demonstrator flight experiment being able to continuously monitor with high time resolution the air conditions within the crewed cabins of the ISS (International Space Station). The system has its origin in a long term ESA (European Space Agency) technology development program. The ANITA mission itself is an ESA-NASA cooperative project. ESA is responsible for the provision of the HW (Hardware), the data acquisition and data evaluation. NASA's responsibilities are launch, accommodation in the US Lab Destiny, operation and data download.

After the launch to the ISS (International Space Station) with The Space Shuttle flight STS 118 13A.1 on August 9th 2007 and the accommodation in the US lab Destiny, the air quality monitor ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air) has been successfully put into operation. ANITA is a technology demonstrator flight experiment being able to continuously monitor with high time resolution the air conditions within the crewed cabins of the ISS. The system has its origin in a long term ESA technology development programme. The ANITA mission itself is an ESA-NASA cooperative project. ESA is responsible for the provision of the HW, the data acquisition and data evaluation. NASA's responsibilities are launch, accommodation in the US Lab Destiny, operation and data download. The ANITA air analyser is currently calibrated to detect and quantify online and with high time resolution 33 gases simultaneously with down to sub-ppm detection limits.

The flight experiment ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air) has been developed within the long term European technology development programme on air monitoring in manned space cabins. Built under ESA responsibilities, ANITA has become an important inter agency cooperative activity on air monitoring with NASA. Within this cooperation, the system has recently been handed over to NASA ISS Medical Project (ISSMP) at Johnson Space Center to prepare the upcoming launch to the International Space Station (ISS) now with STS-118. The ANITA air analyser can detect and quantify online and with high time resolution 30 trace gases simultaneously with sub-ppm detection limits in addition to the always present background gases carbon dioxide and water vapour [6, 12]. This air quality monitor allows therefore the detection and monitoring of trace gas dynamics of the spacecraft atmosphere, providing continuous air monitoring as well as crew warning capability in case of malfunctions.

This paper gives a status report on the flight experiment ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air), the development status of the successor unit ANITA II and spin-off activity such as the use of an ANITA-type instrument on a submarine. The ANITA system represents a precursor for ANITA II, a permanent continuous trace gas monitoring system on the International Space Station (ISS). The measurement task in a submarine environment is similar to the analysis in the closed environment on the ISS except for the different trace gases present. A proposed test measurement campaign on a submarine in 2006 is outlined in the paper. The ANITA air analyser can detect and quantify quasi on-line and simultaneously 30 trace gases with sub-ppm detection limits in addition to carbon dioxide and water vapour [4, 10].

This paper is a status report on the development of ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air), an FTIR-based (Fourier Transform Infrared spectrometer) trace gas monitoring system. ANITA is scheduled for transport to the ISS (International Space Station) on the ATV (Automated Transfer Vehicle) maiden flight ‘Jules Verne’, scheduled for launch April 2006. ANITA is calibrated to detect and quantify simultaneously 32 of the most important trace gases in the ISS atmosphere. ANITA operates fully automatic with one reading every 5 minutes. However, manual operation for non-local sampling is possible. To fulfil this measurement task a high-quality instrument has been developed and provided with sophisticated analysis software based on measurement simulations and advanced statistical regression techniques.

This paper reports on the flight experiment ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air) and the development status of ANITA II. ANITA represents a precursor for ANITA II, a permanent continuous trace gas monitoring system on the International Space Station (ISS). For crew's safety the air analysers can detect and quantify quasi on-line and simultaneously 32 trace gases with ppm or sub-ppm detection limits. Thus, a crewed cabin air monitor is designed allowing the detection and monitoring of trace gas dynamics of a spacecraft atmosphere providing besides the continuous air monitoring activities, warning capability in case of malfunctions. ANITA will be accommodated in an Express Rack on US LAB Destiny. The transportation to ISS will be provided by Jules Verne, the first flight of the Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV) scheduled for May 2005. The more compact and improved measurement unit ANITA II is being designed for continuous air monitoring on ISS.

ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air) is a flight experiment as precursor for a permanent continuous trace gas monitoring system on the International Space Station (ISS). After more than 10 years of development it has reached a high level of maturity. For the safety of the crew the (ruggedised) system can detect and quantify quasi on–line and simultaneously 32 trace gases with ppm or sub-ppm detection limits. Thus a versatile usable air monitor is provided allowing for the first time the detection and monitoring of trace gas dynamics of a spacecraft atmosphere. The plan is to accommodate ANITA in a Destiny (US LAB) Express Rack on ISS. The transportation to ISS may either be with the Space Shuttle or the Automatic Transfer Vehicle (ATV).

This paper reports on the development status of the flight experiment ANITA (Analysing Interferometer for Ambient Air). Based on ruggedized FTIR technology, ANITA represents a sophisticated air analyser for manned space cabins. In combination with specific analysis software developed through physical simulations and PLS (Partial Least Squares) statistical analyses, the monitoring system can detect and quantify over 30 gases nearly on–line. After testing, calibration and qualification of the system, an in-orbit-testing is scheduled around end of 2003.